Most parts of the
game interface will give you tips on how to play. Just
rest your mouse cursor over parts of the UI to get
advice on how to play that part of the
game.
Creating Your
Sim
1. Click on the Create a Sim button in
the Select A Sim screen to create or edit your
Sim.
2. Choose a body and head, enter a name and
biographical notes, and make any other adjustments you
want.
Buying a
Lot
1. Click on the Enter City button on
the Create A Sim screen to see the cityscape.
2.
Click on the part of the city where you'd like to buy a
lot. The view will zoom in.
3. Click on an empty
part of the landscape. The game will ask if you want to
buy that lot. If you don't have enough money to buy that
vacant lot, visit a lot that's online to earn some money
(see Making Money below).
Visiting a Lot
1. Click on
the Enter City button on the Create A Sim screen to see
the cityscape.
2. Glowing red dots are properties
that are online. A big sign with an arrow marks yours
(if you own one). Click on a glowing red dot to zoom
in.
3. Highlighted or glowing lots are online.
Click on a highlighted lot to see the information about
that lot.
4. On the info window that comes up,
click the Join button in the upper left (it has a big
arrow on it).
Motives
Once your Sim is in
a property, click on the button with the human
silhouette on it on the left side of the UI bar at the
bottom of the screen. This will bring up or hide the
Live Mode panel across the bottom of the screen, which
shows how your Sim is feeling using six status
bars.
The six bars cover basic needs (or
"motives"), which need to be taken care of from time to
time. Eat when the
"hunger" bar is low, sleep
when "energy" is low, go to the
bathroom when "bladder" is low, take a shower when "hygiene" is
low, interact with someone
when "social" is low, play
with something when "fun" is low, and sit down when "comfort" is low.
You can only improve "room" by visiting a well-decorated
room or well-tended yard.
Making Money
You can
make money using objects. Some objects can earn you
money by yourself, including the workbench,
telemarketing phone, typewriter, and painting easel.
Other objects require the help of other players, such as
the pizza maker.
You can make money from other
Sims through objects such as the doors (which can be
set to charge money), snack machines and soda machines.
These objects require other players to pay to use
them.
You can get a job by looking in a
newspaper (one is delivered every Sim day to every
property) or on a computer. Choose "Look for a job" and
see what's available. When you have taken a job, a car
will arrive to take you to work just before your shift
starts. If you shift has already started, you can use a
telephone to call a cab to take you to work. At work,
there is a sign out front explaining your job. You can
also click on various objects and select "How to use" to
get tips on how to do your job.
Having lots of
visitors pays too. Each day, you will receive some
extra money based on how many "visitor hours" you had.
So get people to visit and stay!
Expressing Yourself
Bust
a move. When you click on yourself, you will see a
number of options. These options don't affect the game,
but are there to help you express yourself. Have some
fun!
To chat with other players, just
start typing. When your message is ready to send, hit
Enter. Your chat message will appear in a little talk
balloon.
Transactions
There are many
transactions you can conduct with other players. Click
on a player and select "transactions" on the menu that
pops up. Play with the choices here and see what
happens!
Don't worry, most of these are
relatively harmless or can be reverted (see People and
Relationships below). Important exceptions to this are
the money-related options (such as "give money"), and
those give you a choice of how much money you want to
pay.
People and
Relationships
Who is this? When you
click on someone's face in the Live Mode panel, the Sim
Page pops up showing information about him or her. This
works for you, too. This window shows all kinds of
things, including skills, bio and game
personality.
It's who you know, not what you
know. Click on the Friendship Web button, either on
the Sim Page (the info window that tells you about a
Sim) or at the left side of the Universal Control Panel
(that UI bar at the bottom of the screen), to see a
network of faces. Green arrows show friendship, while
red arrows show enemies. Left clicking on a face will
move that person to the center of the screen so you can
view his or her relationships.
To start a
relationship, walk up to the person you want to make
your friend or enemy. Click on him or her, choose
"transactions," then choose either "make friend" or
"make enemy."
To terminate a relationship,
bring up the Friendship Web and make sure you are at the
center of the screen (either by left-clicking on your
face in the web, or opening the Friendship Web from your
SimPage). Then right click on the face of the Sim
representing the relationship you want to end. You will
be asked if you want to end this relationship. Click
"yes" to confirm.
